Machine for continuous molding



Nov. 13, 1951 s, o w ET AL 2,575,092

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS MOLDING v Filed Feb. 17, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Nov. 13, 1951 G. s. BOUVIER ETAL MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS MOLDING 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1'7, 1948 00 00000000 ooo l Nov. 13, 1951 G.s. BOUVIER ETAL I 2,575,092

MACHINE FOR CONTINUQUS MOLDING 3 Sheets-Sheet '3 Filed Feb. 17, .1948

Patented Nov. 13 1951 UNITED I STAT ES PAT OFFICE MAcnINEFot-coN'rmUeUs" MOLDING 'GabrieljStanislas-Bouviefi.Gentilly; andaRogerPierreClair, Parla -France- Application February 17, 1948,"

In France February- 22, 1947*" f 3 Claims. (01.25 -99) The inventiondeals with a machine for the continuous moulding of parts, moreparticularly panels constituted by parallelopipeds that may be solid ortubular.

The object of the invention to allow the.

manufacture of a: wide range. of parts that are indicated moreespecially for the formation of the inner dividing walls of buildings.

The. main characteristic of the invention lies in the factthat themachine is made up of an endless-type of mouldformed by two hinged ormoving wallsibetween: which is poured the compound out ofwhich theparts-are. to. bemade; fittings constituting the. half-bottom: pieces aof the mould sections are fixedatrgular spaces along: thewalls; the twowalls of .themould: are kept-moving in suitable guidesi'so as. tomakecertain that the two. walls preserve thesame distance apart throughouttheroperatiom. the use of electrodynamic 'power is recommended. toensure'the automaticadjustment of thenmwindingrate ofthe.twozendlesswalls; the 8132;06:158- tween the two walls -may "be.varied; suitable means'are: introduced to prevent the. moulded partsfrom sticking to the walls; thexupperportionxat least of the endlessmouldingimachine'is subjected to vibration so as toget. a: close packingof the moulding compound.

A .further characteristic, also, of theinvention, in:.the event oftubular" panels being vrequired in place of the solid ones, lies-in-theuse of a feeding means that delivers in regularsequence successive coresinto the mould; these cores, too, are directed by sloping approachesthatimpart a threefoldmotion. to: the'coresz' driving at a tageousl'yassociated with; the machine;

Fig. 4 is a detail thereof on a larger scale, also in. side elevationalView;

Fig, 5 is a horizontal cross-section of'said mechanism perpendicularly.to the plane of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 shows by way of examplera perforatedstructural element that may be obtained. inthe said machine.

. Tiler-machine. illustratedxinFigs. 1. and..2 in- 2. eludesacontinuously downwardly movingmold defined by two endless-belts lregistering-with one another along: the: inner verticaldownwardlydirected portion of their paths. .5:

Said. belts includexa plurality-10f interconnected members forming a.sprocket chain 2. and-engaging idle pinions 3'. andrfurther pinions 4:.keyed. to; the spindles ot. Wheels 5 meshing: respectively with "furtherwheels =6 ofewhichl one Ewforms the driving :wheel; Said-e drivingwheelris in its turn connected: operatively:with av prime moverzso as toconstrain the. cooperating; vertical. surfaces ofrthe belt to: move;downwardly in unison.

I 'Suitable:.-g-uides shown imdottedl. lines at..| 15..

are provid ed forathe: downward movement. oithe belt It.. Above-the-molddefined by the two down- I wardly moving: surfaces considered and thatis it closed-laterally through plates'suclr as that ill-ustratedsat 2.!:in.-Fig.1.5 is arranged..a.- feeder-8 adapted to project into. .themold the. material,

preferably :plasterz'of Paris; that .to .bemoldd. In the:casezofxiplaster,v the: latter is. caused: to

a drop into=the moldbetweenthe downwardly movingzrsurfaces; to. settleinside the mold .asquickly as -possible: before-it sets; vibrating meansbeing associated iwith. the; moving; surfaces to, further tance betweensaid surfaces: beltsa're adjusted with reference to one. another thissettling;

For the x-definition of the molded parts,"v as-to size; there areaprovid'ediatu spaced. intervals on the- -outsideslofl thewbelts short.bars suc'hses: 9 that project towards. one another? in the intervalbetween thesurfaces otthe downwardly directed strands of "the belt.through one; half the: dis- Obviously, the

so thatth'e: outer ends: of "the 1 cooperating bars may :register withone another inside the; mold channel. defined: between; said-strands.Thus the bars:Eabnttingpagainstione another as illustrated fornrtheaseparation.betweenthe successiveelementary molds defined between thesaid strands.

The: molded ;.elements 1f ormed between the. successivesabutting'rbarsystems are collectedat the loweruend ofwthe molding; channel by avertically movablerloadxcarrier l-fli-that is adapted to re-'move-:there1ements in succession onto a sloping runwayr tfia. .fordischarging. themv automatically under; the actiomof; gravity over saidsloping runway;

Iniorder to suitabl-ysettle the: plaster of Paris or-:thez-likematerialthe elementary molds, it is preferableto. provide for a. suitablevibrator on-ithe machine at a suitable location. The operation ofthemachineis as follows: the

mass'ofg. material delivered .from the ieeder. .8 and storing up asubstantial amount of kinetic energy fills the elementary mold that islocated immediately underneath the feeder and is submitted to the actionof the vibrator for expediting its settling. The setting of the plasterin the elementary mold is obtained during the downwaru movement of saidmold and the molded material is caused to become very rigid by reason ofthe fact that it cannot expand to any substantial extent inside theelementary mold. It moves downwardly and is discharged as disclosed ontothe carrier Ill and runaway Illa. When the molded element has to be out,there is associated to the arrangement disclosed a further downwardlysloping surface leading the element to the sawing yard under constantacceleration conditions.

When it is desired to use the machine for the production of tubularparts, that is parts provided with a number of suitably distributedperforations of predetermined size, an auxiliary 'mechanism isincorporated to the machine as illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5. As shown,the cores adapted to form the perforations considered in the moldedelements are distributed by a distributor or distributors I2 containingsuperposed cores I3; an arcuate slideway for the cores guides them fromthe lower end of the distributor into the corresponding side of themolding channel; they are guided in each arcuate channel by means offorks l6 arranged with a sliding fit in radial slots of the wheel I5that is coaxial with the arcuate guiding channel. As shown with furtherdetail in Fig. 4, each fork is submitted to the action of a spring I!urging it away from the center of the wheel I5 so that it may hold thecores between its ends inside the arcuate guideway. This guidewaycontinues as a matter of fact underneath the horizontal diameter of thewheel I5 as shown in Fig. 4; this has for its object to urge the forksaway from the vertical line along which the successive cores fed by theupper part of the arcuate guiding channel are caused to drop; to

' this purpose, the different cores are guided along their pathsynchronously with the sinking movement of the mold by a succession ofsuperposed guiding members I8 adapted to slide to either side of themold channel in the vertical plane of operation of forks I6. It will bereadily understood that the cores are allowed to enter in succession themembers I8 through flaring lateral notches in the latter as they passout of the part of the guideway I4 lying above the horizontal diameterof the wheel l5. Beyond said diameter,

the cores continue being held inside the notches in a member I8 whilethe forks I6 are moved away from them through the continuation of theguiding channel I4, the cores and the forks being guided in oppositedirections by the member 20 that separates the guiding channels for theforks from the line of progression of the cores.

A member I8 is shown cross-sectionally with further detail in Fig. 5 asincluding lateral vertical rack members [8a, two smooth metal facingsI8b arranged vertically in planes perpendicular to the plane of Figs. 3and 4 and finally a front projection I80 provided with transversalflaring notches I8d for holding the corresponding ends of the cores I3fed thereto by the wheels I5. The member I8 considered has a heightequal to that of a mold element and consequently of one of the tubularmolded parts to be obtained.

The superposed members l8 are fitted inside a stationary slideway memberI9 made of two cooperating parts I9a and I9b. In the case illus-..

trated, two cores are delivered simultaneously to the correspondingnotches provided to either side of the successive downwardly movingmembers I8 this being done as stated through the operation of theprogressively advancing radial forks IE carried along by the wheels I5and registering with the successive notches facing them. The cores moveout of said forks as disclosed into said notches and are guided alongthe inner wall I9c of the stationary slideway member I9 against whichwall the ends of the forks I6 at first slide until the counterslidemember 20 separates finally the cores that remain in the notches of themembers I8 from the actual forks that recede into the guiding channel I4as fully apparent in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 shows more particularly the arrangement of two associated coresI3 extending partly outside the lateral closing plate 2I of the mold,which plates 2I provide for the lateral watertightness of the downwardlymoving mold on the corresponding sides thereof. Said cores areconstituted as disclosed in our copending U. S. specification 34,956 byan operative small diameter part and outer larger diameter annular partsfitted over or rigid with at least one end of the former part. Thesecores are locked in position by auxiliary grooves in the slideway memberI9 so as to be housed in a well determined position inside the notchesof the downwardly moving members I8. The release of the cores aftermolding is carried out in front of a point near the bottom of theslideway I9 that is provided with a lateral opening for said release.When the member I8 that is driven downwardly in unison with the actualmold belts through the synchronous operation of pinions 22 engaging thevertical rack l8a the core is caused to move longitudinally out of themolded material that has set in the meantime, by any suitable means. Forinstance, the cores may be submitted to the action of a mechanicallyoperating guiding member or again the attraction of an electromagnetthat is energized at a suitable moment through the very operation ofthemachine, said electromagnet being subsequently deenergized throughthe actuation of a switch by the member l8 carrying the cores underconsideration.

The cores shown as formed by coaxial portions and the devices disclosedhave been illustrated only to one side of the plane of symmetry of theapparatus shown in Figs. 3 and 4. It will be immediately appreciatedthat Fig. 5 should be completed by a symmetrical part including the sameelements or parts of elements as those actually illustrated.

The members I8 may form a sequence of interconnected members that may becaused to move away from the mold in a direction perpendicular to theplane of Fig. 4 in order to remove mechanically the cores that arethenafter guided over suitable slopes. As stated, this release may beassociated with or replaced by electromagnetic attraction. The membersI8 arriving at the bottom of their stroke are taken up through somecontrivance that forms no part of the invention and are returned backfor operation at the upper end of the mold.

The molded part obtained that is illustrated in Fig. 6 may be sawnthrough, transversely or longitudinally so as to produce two separatestructural elements.

The different members of the machine are of course driven synchronouslythrough any prime mover, said members including the wheels I5 andawe-p92 ward movement:

The timing of-the-input-m" vement of the-cores and of the-members +8- isprovided ina manner such that these-cores and members may actsynchronously with the progression of the two cooperating moldenclosingwalls; The cooperating wheels l-and pinions 22*-arekeyedre'spectively to the axesof the-wheeled andfi-(Fig 1) thatprovide'for the translational movement" of the endless-belt I;

It will be apparent that-the precedingly disclosed machineallows-obtaining structural parts the net cost of which is very muchbelow what can be *obtained with other methods while thelaborrequired'is very'small and furthermore the machine may work in acontinuous manner. Moreover molded elements obtained with said machinerequire only a reduced amount of raw material that may be about 2% timesless for equal surface areas ascompared with prior practice. Suchstructural elements allow an assembling that lowers to a marked degreethe net cost of building on which said new structural elements areemployed.

Obviously our invention is not limited to the embodiments describedhereinabove and it covers all modifications thereof that fall within thescope of accompanying claims.

What we claim is:

l. A machine for the continuous molding of parallelopipedic and the likestructural elements comprising two endless wall-forming surfaces adaptedto move along paths including vertical portions, said vertical portionsof the two surfaces lying in front of one another at a predetermincddistance corresponding to the width of the structural elements to beobtained, means for driving in unison the two surfaces so that theyexecute simultaneous equal downward movements through the verticalportions of their paths, transversal bars projecting to the outside ofeach surface at predetermined equal intervals through a distance suchthat each pair of cooperating bars when engaging simultaneously thechannel defined between the two vertical portions of said paths mayregister accurately and form the bottom of an elementary mold, lateralwalls closing the channel formed between the two surfaces in thevertical portion of their paths, means for dropping material adapted toset into the upper end of said channel between the two vertical portionsof the paths and means for removing the finished elements from the lowerpart of the said passage, means for inserting cores at regular intervalsinto the uppermost mold compartments defined by the moving walls and thelast bars that have entered the channel between same for forming thebottom of said mold compartment, last mentioned means including slopesarranged to either side of the vertical portions of the paths of thewall surfaces symmetrically thereof, wheels arranged symmetrically toeither side of the vertical wall surfaces and adapted to rotate roundhorizontal axes parallel to said surfaces and radial jaws fittedyieldingly in said wheels and adapted to guide the cores passing overthe slopes into the uppermost mould.

2. A "machine for the continuous molding of parallelopipedic and thelike structural elements comprising two endless wall-forming surfacesadapted to move along paths including vertical portions, said verticalportions of the two surfaces lying in front of one another at a prede- 6termined di'stance corresponding tothe --width=- of the structuralelements to bewbtained, means for driving in: unison the-two surfaces sothat they execute simultaneous:equal downwardmovements through thevertical portions of their paths-transversal bars-projecting to theoutside of each surface-at predetermined equal intervals through adistance such that each pair of cooperating barswhen engagingsimultaneously :thechannel defined' between the two 1 vertical portionsof said paths may'register accurately and form the bottom, of anelementary mold, lateral walls closing the channel formed between thetwo surfaces in the vertical portion oftheir paths, meansfor droppingmaterial adapted to set into the upper end-ofsaid channel between thetwovertical portions of'the'paths andmeans for removing the finishedelements from the lowor part of the said passage, means for insertingcores at regular intervals into the uppermost mold compartments definedby the moving walls and the last bars that have entered the channelbetween same for forming the bottom of said mold compartment, lastmentioned means including slopes arranged to either side of the verticalportions of the paths of the wall surfaces symmetrically thereof, wheelsarranged symmetrically to either side of the vertical wall surfaces andadapted to rotate round horizontal axes parallel to said surfaces andradial jaws fitted yieldingly in said wheels and adapted to guide thecores passing over the slopes into the uppermost mould, a segmentalvertically slidable vertical rack cooperating with the jaws on eachwheel for urging the cores into the mould and means cooperating with thewall surface driving means for constraining last mentioned wheels andracks to move in unison therewith.

3. A machine for molding plaster of Paris and the like materialcomprising two endless strips forming through part of their travel twovertical walls lying in front of one another at a constant predetermineddistance and including means rigid therewith forming separations betweensuccessive elementary molds defined between said vertical walls, meansfor closing laterally said molds, means for driving the strips at auniform speed, means for dropping the material to be molded into theupper end of the space defined between the two vertical walls and meansfor removing the molded parts from the lower end of said space betweenthe two walls, an arcuate channel opening into at least one side of theupper end of the associated vertical walls, a

. wheel rotating coaxially with said arcuate slot,

means for feeding cores into said arcuate slot, means resilientlycarried by the rotary wheels for guiding the downward movement of thecores from said feeding means through the arcuate slot up to a pointbetween the two vertical walls, a vertical stationary slideway arrangedlaterally of the vertical mold walls, a plurality of superposedoutwardly rack-shaped members adapted to move downwardly in saidslideway, at least one pinion controlling the racks on said members andmeans controlled by the strip driving means for controllingsimultaneously the wheel and pinion, said rack-shaped members beingprovided with lateral notches registering with predetermined verticalplanes parallel to the vertical mold walls, means whereby the cores fedby the arcuate slots are held in the notches of the rack-shaped membersas the latter sink while the guiding members therefor are urged back outof engagement with said cores and means as- Sociated with the lower partof the slideway through which the cores may be removed out of thenotches in the rack-shaped members and out of the molded parts formedbetween the vertical strip walls defining the molds.

GABRIEL STANISLAS BOUVIER. ROGER PIERRE CLAIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 965,006 Pauly July 19, 19101,289,275 Sargent Dec. 31, 1918 1,374,173 Andrews Apr. 12, 1921 Number15 Number Name Date Corl Aug. 18, 1925 McManus May 22, 1928 White Sept.10, 1929 Thomson Mar. 18, 1930 Farnham Dec. 30, 1930 Lindsay Jan. 26,1932 Dresser Jan. 17, 1933 Muntz Jan, 2, 1934 Sexton Oct. 22, 1935Albrecht Apr. 6, 1937 Roberts Oct. 24, 1939 Grotenhuis Mar. 5, 1946FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Jan. 14, 1915

